The whole truth and nothing but the truth?

What does the Bible say about telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth?  NOTE IN A COURT OF LAW I AM SURE GOD intends that peope tell the whole truth.  But some think this phrase said in court came from the Bible. I didn't realize this thought from the Bible until 2009.
 KJV Proverbs 29:11  A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
***Some things are no one's business but your own and God.

Helping Youth Have a Faith of Their Own

"This article is reprented by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary and available at Lewis Center for Church Leadership"

Here is the site for the orginal article Helping Youth Have a Faith of Their Own. Originally published Feb. 8, 2012.

Helping Youth Have a Faith of Their Own

The fact that youth participate in church less as they get older and often are not present in church as young adults can lead church leaders to assume they lack religious interest. A new book growing out of the National Study of Youth and Religion challenges that assumption. Sociologists Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that older teens and young adults see great significance in religion though not always in institutional forms of religious life.

In their book A Faith of Their Own: Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America’s Adolescents (Oxford University Press, 2011), the authors follow up with 2,530 young people, age 16 to 21, surveyed about their faith and religious practices at two points in time. The authors identified five types of religious identity among these young persons.

Abiders (20 percent). These are the adolescents with the highest levels of religious interest and practice. They not only believe in God; they pray regularly, attend services, volunteer, and are most likely to say their religion is the only true faith.

Adapters (20 percent). This group shows high levels of personal religiosity. But compared to the Abiders, they are more accepting of other people’s faiths and attend religious services more sporadically. The Adapters are most likely of all the groups to help others in need.

Assenters (31 percent). These teens say they believe in God, but they are minimally engaged with their faith. Religion is tangential to other aspects of their lives.

Avoiders (24 percent). They believe in God but do not engage in any religious practice. Their God is a distant one, and they often do not name a religious affiliation.

Atheists (5 percent). They do not believe in God and do not attend services.

Meaning for Congregations

What might this mean for congregations wanting to be sensitive to the faith perspectives of youth? We know that participation in formal religious services means little to many youth. They do not necessarily see themselves as less religious because they attend worship less often. The church is often not their primary community of meaning during these years.  

The writers suggest that congregations can support youth as they refine their religious identity with an approach called “scaffolding.” Scaffolding creates a context in which youth can participate at a level just beyond where they are currently. Instead of asking youth to go where they are not ready to go, they are helped to grow from where they are. Hallmarks of all such efforts must be honesty and acknowledgement of the role of doubt in faith.

All people have distinctive issues and needs at various life stages. One lesson from this research is the importance of supporting youth in appropriate ways during these critical years.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

FLEA MARKET FLIP REQUEST FROM A FRIEND

Lately exploration of my talents have allowed me to push myself beyond my comfort zone or normal box.  I owe a lot to a friend for giving me this confidence.

Here is the drawing me coaxed me into finishing.  Thanks friend.

"Make me a coffee table!"  I said okay.

I started my search over a few weeks....keying in on finish.  I have had surgery and thud taking longer to make. Yet, I think this should provide the time I need to fit the job to my friend like a glove.

Here is the base painted a different color, Foss.

It has a handle that opens with two shelves for storage.  I may put some other specific storage.    Next, I painted this and will glue it ontop of this base.

Take off the frame and ornate art stuff and you have a shelf shadowbox from the 70's.  I painted it Foss.  Embossed pictures of my friend from her family and a few from mine over years and during college will be put onto of the mirror part in hopefully a eye catching arrangement.  I plan to throw in some pharmacy memento's and SWOSU stuff....just enough.

I asked opinions.  .....what should the top be solid wood, glass or give me a suggestion.  I believe I have my answer and pray I find the size and just right fit to make it pop.  That would make finishing this upcycling nice for me.

I am now looking for two pieces of wood/glass.  Wood all around with glass in the middle like cabinets and a knob on to where it opens in the middle of the coffee table.  I have been surfing the web for a couple of hours and found nothing but I have a few weeks to finish this.

Please provide feedback.  Websites with ideas and training and other hints.  Tell me things you like about my ideas and those you don't.  Any good business person knows sucess depends on satisfing your customers.  Money may not be any issue yet but making something for a person that likes it is a starting goal.  I am considering this is a side business...but long way off.

Iran Deal; Like Cattle Herded – History Lesson Go Unheeded And Our Freedoms Dwindle

Iran Deal; Like Cattle Herded –

History Lesson Go Unheeded And Our Freedoms Dwindle

            At this URL site https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal, the heading is “The Historic Deal That Will Prevent Iran From Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon.”  Our President, Barack Obama, is confident the deal he has brokered will accomplish this.  Or, does he?  After all President Obama is a student of history and as a lawyer he has experience in looking at a track record as a tool to predict future behavior. Or, am I assuming to much in this case?

         Germany, Russia, European Union, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States agree to the terms of a deal that “will verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”  It allows for peaceful development of nuclear energy to meet the nation’s power needs. 

This URL, http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/World-Statistics/World-Nuclear-Power-Plants-in-Operation will give you a list of countries besides the United States operating Nuclear Power Plants.  Pakistan (remember we found Osama bin Laden in a compound there) and Iran are two countries with nuclear power that concern me.  Remember the Pakistan scientist that admitted on TV he gave North Korea technology and other secrets on nuclear power. North Korea boasts of testing nuclear weapons.

If you had a friend that kept borrowing money over period of thirty or so years without repaying it, is it smart to keep loaning him money?  Then say that same friend wants to make a deal to repay you for some but not all of the money but doesn’t want you to run a credit report, is this a wise move? 

What is Iran’s track record?  In the years of 1979 to 1980, a group of terrorist’s kidnapped, held, brutalized and traumatized fifty-two Americans in the U.S. Iranian embassy.  Former, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies being one of the hostage takers but one must admit in photos he resembles a hostage taker. Ask yourself this, in the Iranian Political realm would such a person benefit from being such a person?  Could this help or hurt him climb a political ladder? Look him up in the Wikipedia. It states he was a member of a group called “Office for Strengthening Unity.”  Look up this group to find this quote, “The OSU played a central role in the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Strengthening_Unity).

Thus, 1979 starts the “Iran Hostage Affair,”  and sets the tone for U.S. – Iran relations for years to come.  An article at this URL gives a timeline of this relationship. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/04/07/world/middleeast/iran-timeline.html?_r=0#/#time9_188. The article talks about Iran working on nuclear power plants before the hostage taking but the post revolutionary Prime Minister cancels the contract. There are a series of other tidbits about Iran seeking nuclear power and the famous Pakistan individual that helped North Korea is nestled warmly in these transactions.

The United States protects Arab shipping in the 80’s.  Iran fires on American missile Frigate the Stark killing 37 people.  During a skirmish with the Iranian gunboats a commercial Iran air flight is shot down killing 290 people. The United States paid a dollar sum for compensation of loss of life in this case.  

Have the American Iranian hostages ever been compensated a dollar figure for their trauma?  Former hostages addressed President Obama to make this part of the deal but articles and answers say the deal is about one thing, getting Iran to stop the path toward developing a nuclear weapon.  August of 2002 it is revealed that Iran is making advancement in nuclear power and uranium enrichment. Then in November of 2004 Iran says it halts Uranium production.  Our own government talks about finding secret facilities that could be used for a weapons program; here is the URL for that information http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/politics-irans-nuclear-program.

         Remember all the times Iran turned back U.N. inspectors of their nuclear power program?  What were they hiding?  Over how many decades now have evaded and denied progress in the development of nuclear power and weapon’s grade uranium?  What have they done to earn our trust?  How many American’s have they imprisoned?  How many American’s and other world citizen’s have been abused while in Iran?  We must remember the U.N. Speech by a former Iranian President.

         It is about time to take a stroll down history lane.  Does the name Adolf Hitler ring any bells?   Does the name prompt people to remember the error in under estimating him?  Hitler rolled into countries and people gave up their freedom without a fight with great costs. 

         How many recall a man names Winston Churchill: writer, British Army Officer and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945?  Regrettably to the world in failing to notice and act on Winston Churchill’s prophetic words of “Prepare for War!”  I read a biography Churchill in grade school that tells of a trip he made to Germany where he sees a huge military build up.  Churchill tries to convince his country for some time to respond and take a page out of Roman history that preparing for war can prevent a war.  Too sad his words fell on deaf ears at first. Go to this URL for some information on this http://www.historynet.com/winston-churchills-prewar-effort-to-increase-military-spending.htm.

         Hitler rolled into many countries very easily.  Many people sat in their glass houses ignoring the picture in front of them. Millions of people lost their lives and freedom during this time. 

         How can the U.S. and these countries making the deal and “verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”  Help me see anything on the Iranian side that gives them an ounce of credit or goodwill we should trust.  I urge people to look at the deal for themselves.  This URL https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2165388-iran-deal-text.html will lead you to a PDF of the deal.  PLEASE LET US BE A NATION THAT REMEMBERS HISTORY AND LEARNS FROM IT.  Think about the status of the Middle East at this time.  Is the Middle East the picture of stability?  Will it be stable in the near future?  Or, is it more likely that stability is a long way off and this deal only increases the chances for diversion of uranium and a culture of groups in search of the best weapons of mass destruction?

         My last statement is where I beg you to think about your freedom, history and to stand up for what our military has guarded for so long.  Millions of people may be saved if we turn this deal down and make a country earn trust before giving everything with no real way of making Iran accountable.  Personally, I will speak up, as is my right, to keep my freedoms.  

         One last thought.  If many people are killed or end up living in a country where they face a Hitler, should we respond and save them or only defend ourselves?

Mrs. Sandra Lynn Mallo Adcock D.Ph. M.S.M.

 

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